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February 15, 2013

The Democrats' advantage over all opponents in the Big Data arena

Shortly after the 2012 election we began hearing the boasting from the individuals involved in the DNC's Big Data system about how they won the election for President Obama. And they were probably right. The accumulation of all the available information about citizens at this point in our technological advancement is immense. And the techno whizzes working for Mr. Obama probably got everything they could get their hands on.

The question then was what to do with that information. Enter the psychologists who, applying what they know about why people do what they do, figured out how to get people to vote a certain way. Put someone in charge who believes that the end justifies the means, and they won.

Republican politicians could never get away with that. And until Democrat voters begin to see through the manipulations, then Republicans will be at a disadvantage. The only way my feeble mind can see a Republican get elected as President would be for some cult like figure to come along, survive the Jon Stewart, Tina Fey, msm gauntlet, and dazzle the public. That's a tall order.

When behavioral psychologists, behavioral economists, and behavioral political theorists unite to identify ways of shaping behavior, you start to see possibilities the best propaganda machines in history could not have imagined. ...

Our challenge is not in data or technologists. Our challenge is competing in the realm of academic investigation and the brainpower represented by professors with tenure who do nothing but come up with ideas to explore. Now they have access to a free, unrestricted laboratory to test their theories, and a party willing to foot the bill. It is a perfect storm from which the GOP may truly be unable to escape.

The other problem is putting aside ones' outdated scruples and adopting the notion that the end justifies the means.